Poster Presentation

Sunday, November 4, 2007
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Sunday, November 4, 2007
1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
This presentation is part of : Clinical Posters
Development of a Clinical Practice Guideline for Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Patients Using Military Aeromedical Evacuation to Facilitate Efficiencies in Care and Outcomes in Rehabilitation Collaboration
Laurence L. Trail, MSN, MSA, BSN, VAMC, Washington, D.C, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, D.C, DC, USA and Chandresh, R. Mehta, BPT, Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, D.C, DC, USA.
Learning Objective #1: Identify efforts to transfer severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients utilizing aeromedical evacuation among Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) facilities.
Learning Objective #2: Identify clinical practice guidelines for patients with severe traumatic brain injury who require aeromedical evacuation to programs that optimize care management and rehabilitation potential.

Aeromedical nursing focuses on the continuum of care for critically injured patients who require aeromedical evacuation. Patients who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may have a life long dysfunction of the brain. Head injuries and blasts are a leading cause of TBI for active duty military personnel in war zones. Invariably, military duties in austere environments can increase the risk of sustaining a TBI. A TBI can result in short or long-term problems that can impact independent function and cause life long disability. The goal would be evidenced based treatment, individualized rehabilitation, and case management to maximize function and reduce dependency in TBI disability. Decisions regarding research topics that focus on clinical practice guidelines questions are: 1) Where are we? 2)Where do we want to be? 3) How do we get there? 4) Team composition …who determines? Based on this framework, a program of research can be developed with studies following under 3 categories 1) Describe the environment and the patient's response based on the FIM model (initial history, tests and measures, assessment and diagnosis, prognosis, goals, and interventions). 2) Providing care within the constraints of the facility. 3) Prepare the interdisciplinary team to provide individualized and motivating care for the patient. As an example, this presentation summarizes a collection of clinical practice guidelines for patients with severe Traumatic Brain Injuries who require aeromedical evacuation to programs that optimize care management and rehabilitation potential. The implications for clinical, education, and research appears to facilitates the referral and transfer process of severe TBI patients utilizing aeromedical evacuation among Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) facilities for rehabilitation.